Transmission and positioning mechanism

ABSTRACT

A transmission and positioning mechanism includes a guiding assembly, a driving assembly and a positioning assembly. The guiding assembly includes two sliding rails, a transmission belt, a plurality of sliding members. The sliding members are slidably disposed on the sliding rails. The positioning assembly includes a transmission rod, a positioning rod connected to the transmission rod, a positioning block sleeved on the positioning rod, a driving rod sleeved on the transmission rod. The driving rod defines a spiral slots and at least one limiting slot. The driving assembly is connected to the positioning assembly and rotates the transmission rod, the positioning rod and the driving rod, the spiral slot engages one of the plurality of the sliding members to move other sliding members to the at least one limiting slot and the positioning blocks, and the at least one limiting slot and the positioning blocks latch the sliding members.

FIELD

The subject matter herein generally relates to a transmission andpositioning mechanism.

BACKGROUND

With improvements of industrial production, workpieces need moreprocedures to be produced, and some procedures need accuratepositioning, so it is important to locate workpieces accurately andquickly in industrial production.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Implementations of the present technology will now be described, by wayof example only, with reference to the attached figures.

FIG. 1 is an assembled, isometric view of a transmission and positioningmechanism.

FIG. 2 is an exploded, isometric view of a guiding assembly of thetransmission and positioning mechanism of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded, isometric view of a sliding member of the guidingassembly of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded, isometric view of a first driving assembly of thetransmission and positioning mechanism of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a positioning assembly of thetransmission and positioning mechanism of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a positioning block of the positioningassembly of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a driving rod of the positioning assemblyof FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,where appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among thedifferent figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Inaddition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, itwill be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that theembodiments described herein can be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, methods, procedures and components have notbeen described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevantfeature being described. Also, the description is not to be consideredas limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawingsare not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may beexaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the presentdisclosure.

Several definitions that apply throughout this disclosure will now bepresented.

The term “substantially” is defined to be essentially conforming to theparticular dimension, shape or other word that substantially modifies,such that the component need not be exact. The term “comprising” whenutilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to”; itspecifically indicates open-ended inclusion or membership in theso-described combination, group, series and the like.

FIG. 1 illustrates an assembled, isometric view of a transmission andpositioning mechanism 100 used to transmit and position a workpiece. Thetransmission and positioning mechanism 100 includes a guiding assembly10, a first driving assembly 30, two second driving assemblies 50 and apositioning assembly 70. The two second driving assemblies 50 aremounted on two opposite sides of the guiding assembly 10, the firstdriving assembly 30 is located between the two second driving assemblies50; the positioning assembly 70 and the first driving assembly 30 arelocated at two opposite sides of the guiding assembly 10, and thepositioning assembly 70 is connected to the first driving assembly 30.

FIG. 2 illustrates the guiding assembly 10 includes a baseboard module11, two parallel sliding rails 13, a transmission belt 15 and aplurality of sliding members 17. The two sliding rails 13 are disposedon two sides of the baseboard module 11, the transmission belt 15 isdisposed between the two sliding rails 13, and the sliding members 17are slidably disposed on the two sliding rails 13. In at least oneembodiment, the baseboard module 11 includes a first baseboard 111, asecond baseboard 113 and a connection board 115 connected between thefirst baseboard 111 and the second baseboard 113. The first baseboard111 defines a first hole 1111 and a second hole 1113. The secondbaseboard 113 defines a third hole 1131. The first hole 1111 is used toinstall the first driving assembly 30, the second hole 1113 and thethird hole 1131 are used to install the two second driving assemblies50. The two sliding rails 13 are spaced from each other to carry andslidably engage with the sliding members 17.

FIG. 3 illustrates that each sliding member 17 includes a sliding block171, a sliding base 173, a gear block 175 and a bearing member 177. Thesliding block 171 is slidably disposed on the sliding rails 13 to drivethe sliding member 17 to move along the sliding rails 13. The slidingbase 173 is fixed on the sliding block 171 and the sliding base 173further defines a mounting hole 1731 to accommodate a rolling pole 1733to engage with the positioning assembly 70. A gear 1751 of the gearblock 175 engages with the transmission belt 15. The bearing member 177is disposed on the sliding base 173 to support a workpiece.

FIG. 4 illustrates the first driving assembly 30 is used to move the twosecond driving assemblies 50 and the positioning member 70. The firstdriving member 30 includes a motor 31, a connection member 32, a holder33, a driving wheel 34 and a belt 35. The motor 31 provides drivingpower for the first driving assembly 30. The connection member 32 isconnected to the motor 31 and includes a rod 321 connected to the motor31, such that the motor 31 can rotate the rod 321. The holder 33 isdisposed on the first baseboard 111 and carries the connection member32. The rod 321 passes through the holder 33 to be latched on thedriving wheel 34. The driving wheel 34 is sleeved on the rod 321 torotate with the rod 321. One end of the belt 35 is sleeved on thedriving wheel 34, another end of the belt 35 is connected to thepositioning assembly 70. When the first driving assembly 30 is assembledon the guiding assembly 10, the belt 35 passes through the second hole1113 to connect to the positioning assembly 70 driving the positioningassembly 70 to rotate with the driving wheel 34.

The two second driving assemblies 50 pass through the second hole 1113and the third hole 1131 to be mounted on the first baseboard 111 and thesecond baseboard 113 respectively. FIG. 1 illustrates that each seconddriving assembly 50 includes a slave wheel 51, and the transmission belt15 fitting around the two slave wheels 51.

FIG. 5 illustrates the positioning assembly 70 includes four bearingblocks 71, a transmission rod 72, a transmission wheel 73, a sensor 74,a shaft coupling 75, a positioning rod 76, two positioning blocks 77,and a driving rod 78. The two bearing blocks 71 are separately set onthe first baseboard 111, and another two bearing blocks 71 areseparately set on the second baseboard 113. The transmission rod 72 isfixed between the two neighboring bearing blocks 71 on the firstbaseboard 111, and the positioning rod 76 is fixed between another twoneighboring bearing blocks 71 on the second baseboard 113. Thetransmission wheel 73 is sleeved on an end of the transmission rod 72and is connected to the belt 35, thus the transmission rod 72 and thetransmission wheel 73 can rotate with the movement of the belt 35. Thesensor 74 is sleeved on the transmission rod 72 and located outside ofthe transmission wheel 73. The positioning rod 76 is connected to, androtatable with the transmission rod 72 by the shaft coupling 75 torotate simultaneously with the transmission rod 72, the positioning rod76 extends coaxially through, and being coupled with the at least onehollow positioning block 77.

It is to be understood, the transmission rod 72 can be omitted, at thistime, the transmission wheel 73 and the positioning rod 76 are connectedby the driving rod 78, thus the driving rod 78 can rotate with thetransmission wheel 73 to drive the positioning rod 76 to rotatesimultaneously.

FIG. 6 illustrates the two positioning blocks 77 are substantiallyhollow structures and are separately sleeved on the positioning rod 76to secure the sliding members 17. Each positioning block 77 includes abase 771 and two convex blocks 773. The two convex blocks 773 aredisposed on the base 771 apart from each other, thereby defining apositioning groove 775 to latch the rolling pole 1733. When the rollingpole 1733 is latched in the positioning groove 775, the sliding member17 is secured by the positioning block 77.

FIG. 7 illustrates the driving rod 78 is a hollow structure and issleeved on the transmission rod 72 to rotate with the transmission rod72. Each end of the driving rod 78 defines at least one limiting slot781, and the driving rod 78 further defines an exterior surface 782facing away from and parallel to the axis of the driving rod 78. Thedriving rod 78 haves a spiral slot 783 defined in the exterior surface782 and located between the at least one limiting slot 781, the spiralslot 783 includes at least one slot end 7831 to communicate with the atleast one limiting slot 781. In at least one embodiment, the number ofthe at least one limiting slot 781 is two, the number of the at leastone slot end 7831 is two, and each limiting slot 781 communicates witheach end 7831. When the driving rod 78 rotates, the spiral slots 783rotates with the driving rod 78 to drive the rolling pole 1733 latchedwith the spiral slots 783 to move, thereby moving the sliding members17, the gear 1751 engages with the transmission belt 15 to move thetransmission belt 15. A part of the limiting slot 781 is elongated, whenthe two sliding members 17 slide into the two limiting slots 781, therolling poles 1733 of the sliding members 17 resist the limitation slots781 to stop the driving rod 78. The sensor 74 is configured to sensewhether the transmission rod 72 and the driving rod 78 are stopped, whenthe transmission rod 72 and the driving rod 78 are stopped, the sensor74 triggers a control signal to turn off the motor 31, and thetransmission belt 15 is stopped without the driving power of the motor31.

In assembly, the first driving assembly 30 is assembled on thepositioning assembly 70, and the first assembly 30 and the positioningassembly 70 are mounted on two sides of the baseboard module 11. Thebelt 35 of the first driving assembly 30 is connected to the drivingwheel 34 of the first driving assembly 30 and the transmission wheel 73of the positioning assembly 70. The two second driving assemblies 50 aremounted on two opposite ends of the guiding assembly 10 and thetransmission belt 15 is fixed around the slave wheel 51. The slidingmembers 17 of the guiding assembly 10 are slidably disposed on thesliding rails 13 and are engaged with the transmission belt 15, and arolling pole 173 of a sliding member 17 is accommodated in a spiral slot783.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 7 illustrate in use, when a workpiece is loaded on thebearing member 177, the motor 31 starts to rotate the driving wheel 34,the belt 35 rotates with the driving wheel and rotates the transmissionwheel 73. The slave wheel 73 drives the transmission rod 72 to rotate inorder to drive the positioning rod 76 and the driving rod 78 to rotatesimultaneously. Then the rolling pole 1733 of one of the sliding members17 engages the spiral slots 783 to move the other sliding members 17forward. The gear 1751 of the sliding members 17 engages with thetransmission belt 15 to move the transmission belt 15, thereby drivingother sliding members 17 on the transmission belt 15 along thetransmission belt 15. When two of the sliding members 17 slide into thelimiting slots 781 of the driving rod 78, the rolling poles 1733 of thesliding members 17 resist side walls of the limiting slots 781 to stopthe transmission rod 72 and the driving rod 78. The motor 31 is turnedoff in response to the sensor 74. At this moment, the rolling poles 1733of the other sliding members 17 move into the positioning slots 775 andresist side walls of the positioning slots 775, thus, the slidingmembers 17 are latched by the positioning slots 775 and limiting slots781.

In summary, the driving rod 78 defines two limiting slots 781 and spiralslots 783, the positioning block 77 defines a positioning groove 775,the first driving assembly 30 rotates the transmission rod 72, thedriving rod 78 and the positioning rod 76, thus the spiral slot 783engages one of the sliding members 17 to move other sliding members 17along the belt 15 to the limiting slots 781 and the positioning groove775, and the workpieces on the sliding members 17 can be positioned bythe limiting slots 781 and the positioning groove 775, thereby savingcost and improving work efficiency.

The embodiments shown and described above are only examples. Manydetails are often found in the art. Therefore, many such details areneither shown nor described. Even though numerous characteristics andadvantages of the present technology have been set forth in theforegoing description, together with details of the structure andfunction of the present disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only,and changes may be made in the detail, including in matters of shape,size and arrangement of the parts within the principles of the presentdisclosure up to, and including the full extent established by the broadgeneral meaning of the terms used in the claims. It will therefore beappreciated that the embodiments described above may be modified withinthe scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transmission and positioning mechanismcomprising: a guiding assembly having: two parallel sliding rails; atransmission belt loop disposed substantially between the two slidingrails; and a plurality of sliding members slidably disposed on thesliding rails; a first driving assembly; and a positioning assemblyconnected to the first driving assembly, the positioning assemblyhaving: a driving rod defining an exterior surface and a spiral slotdefined in the exterior surface and having at least one slot end, andthe driving rod having at least one limiting slot communicating with theat least one slot end; a transmission rod extending coaxially through,and being coupled with the driving rod; at least one positioning block;and a positioning rod connected to, and rotatable with the transmissionrod, the positioning rod extending coaxially through, and being coupledwith the at least one positioning block; wherein, when the first drivingassembly rotates the transmission rod and the positioning rod, thespiral slot engages at least one of the plurality of sliding members tomove the engaged sliding member to drive the transmission belt to moveother sliding members, the at least one limiting slot and thepositioning blocks are configured to individually latch the othersliding members; and wherein the sliding member comprises a slidingblock and a sliding base, the sliding block is slidably disposed on thesliding rails, the sliding base is fixed on the siding block; thesliding member comprises a gear block and a bearing member, the gearblock is mounted on the sliding base and forms a gear to engage with thetransmission belt to drive the transmission belt to move, the bearingmember is disposed on the sliding base.
 2. The transmission andpositioning mechanism of claim 1, wherein the positioning blockcomprises a base and two convex blocks, and the convex blocks areseparately disposed on the base to define a positioning groove, thesliding member comprises a rolling pole latched with the positioninggroove to secure the sliding member.
 3. The transmission and positioningmechanism of claim 2, wherein the sliding base defines a mounting hole,the rolling pole is accommodated in the mounting pole, the rolling poleof one of the sliding members resists the spiral slot to drive thetransmission belt and the sliding members to move; the rolling poles ofother sliding members are latched by the at least one limiting slot andthe positioning slots to secure the other sliding members.
 4. Thetransmission and positioning mechanism of claim 1, wherein the firstdriving assembly comprises a motor, a connection member, a drivingwheel, and a belt, the motor provides a driving power for the firstdriving assembly, the connection member comprises a rod connected to themotor, the driving wheel is sleeved on the rod, the positioning assemblyfurther comprises a transmission wheel sleeved on the transmission rod,the belt is connected to the driving wheel and the transmission wheel todrive the transmission wheel to rotate by the driving wheel with thedriving power of the motor, the transmission wheel drives thetransmission rod and the driving rod to rotate.
 5. The transmission andpositioning mechanism of claim 4, wherein the positioning assemblycomprises a sensor sleeved on the transmission rod and located atoutside of the transmission wheel, the sensor is configured to sensewhether the transmission rod and the driving rod are stopped, when thetransmission rod and the driving rod are stopped, the sensor triggers acontrol signal to the motor to turn off the motor.
 6. The transmissionand positioning mechanism of claim 4, wherein the guiding assemblyfurther comprises a baseboard module having a first baseboard, a secondbaseboard and a connection board connected between the first baseboardand the second baseboard, the first baseboard defines a first hole and asecond hole, the second baseboard defines a third hole, the belt passesthrough the first hole to connect to the transmission wheel, thetransmission assembly comprises two second driving assemblies installedin the second hole and the third hole.
 7. The transmission andpositioning mechanism of claim 6, wherein the positioning assemblycomprises four bearing blocks, the two bearing blocks are set on thefirst baseboard and are spaced from each other, and another two bearingblocks are separately set on the second board, the transmission rod isfixed between the two neighboring bearing block on the first baseboard,and the positioning rod is fixed between another two neighboring bearingblock on the second baseboard.
 8. The transmission and positioningmechanism of claim 1, wherein the positioning assembly further comprisesa shaft coupling connecting to the transmission rod and the positioningrod.
 9. The transmission and positioning mechanism of claim 1, whereinthe two second driving assemblies are mounted on two opposite sides ofthe guiding assembly, each the second driving assembly comprises a slavewheel, the transmission belt is fixed around the two slave wheels.